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BASF's new Nutrition & Health division established with effect from August 1, 2010 is to set up global headquarters in Lampertheim, Germany. Approximately 150 employees will move into currently empty office space in Lampertheim at the start of 2011.

Bioactive substances are the speciality of BioTeSys GmbH an Esslingen-based biotech company. The company works with a range of products including cosmetics plant and berry extracts and low-dosage non-prescription food supplements. BioTeSys investigates the efficacy of the active ingredients of such products as well as the raw materials used to manufacture them.

Before setting up her own company biologist Dr. Elke Schulz amassed a wealth of knowledge in the pharmaceutical industry. Now she harnesses the power of plants to develop and sell dietary supplements and natural cosmetics. Her company Erbasens specialises in combining high-quality oils and plant essences to create products such as Paramirum that safeguards the effectiveness of the immune system and promotes the bodys defence systems.

Turmeric: Indians swear by the use of this yellow spice and believe in its healing power. In India, turmeric (curcumin) is believed to protect against cancer and help reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Along with four academic and five industrial partners, Dr. Jan Frank from the University of Hohenheim is investigating how the effect of curcumin can be enhanced. The German Ministry of Education and Research is supporting the consortium with funds totalling 1.5 million euros, of which 462,000 euros are allocated to the Hohenheim researchers, giving the project the status of a “heavyweight” research area at the University of Hohenheim.

Konrad Biesalski is a flute player and licensed physician who sees the exchange between humanists and natural scientists as very enriching. Professor Konrad Biesalski is very concerned with the human face of medicine which is why he chooses to combine nutrition with medicine in his work at the University of Hohenheim. His 60th birthday in April this year sparked off his recent efforts to try to dispel some of the common misunderstandings that people have about nutrition. He is a man of many interests which also include evolutionary biology.

The gastrointestinal tract and its nervous system have numerous functions related to the uptake of food and they also play an important role in the development of adiposity. The Institute of Nutritional Medicine at the University of Hohenheim Germany carries out numerous projects aimed at investigating the relationships between food uptake digestive and nervous systems thus making the institute an excellent partner in the Bioactive Plant Foods network.

Doctors and researchers have been at odds for many years as to whether long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids have an effect on the behaviour and cognition of ADHD children. It is hoped that a study at Ulm University will bring more clarity to the debate and potentially come up with an alternative to the controversial psychostimulant therapy.

The EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation applies to all nutrition and health claims made in commercial communications, including the advertising and labelling of food and promotional campaigns. While the information related to nutrition is now clear, the list of permitted health claims is still under development.

Allergic reactions to certain types of food can, in extreme cases, lead to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. People with peanut allergies are particularly at risk. Allergic reactions can also gradually develop into chronic intolerances such as coeliac disease, for example. The causes of food allergies nearly always originate in early childhood.

The increasing demand for functional foods clearly shows that the role of food is no longer just to meet an essential need. Food that offers additional nutritional benefits is becoming increasingly important for example food that is able to prevent or treat diseases. This kind of food is therefore interesting for consumers the food industry and the healthcare sector alike. Products based on plant raw materials are particularly in demand due to the variety of natural health-promoting ingredients. In the spotlight are plants such as quinoa which are rich in gluten-free protein magnesium iron and unsaturated fatty acids.

Borderline products are products that fall into categories somewhere in-between pharmaceuticals, foods and cosmetics. The number of such products sold over the Internet is increasing, and most of them are declared as dietary supplements. A Joint Expert Commission of the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety and the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices has now been set up with the aim of shedding light onto borderline products and medicines.

Why do consumers like the taste of some foods and dislike the taste of others? Gertrud Winkler Professor of nutrition and food sciences at the Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences is focusing on precisely these questions. In her endeavour to promote healthy nutrition Winkler has been involved in developing flour enriched with folic acid and has also done a great deal of work on creating optimised diets for children and adolescents.

What is the best way to bring together biology, chemistry, physics and the engineering sciences? Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Hinrichs, director of the Department of Animal Foodstuff Technology and head of the Dairy for Research and Training at the Institute for Food Technology at the University of Hohenheim knows how: become a food technologist!

The research and analyses carried out by the Max Rubner Institute are aimed at protecting consumer health. The institute investigates the contamination of meat and fish and also focuses on the health benefits of food additives and the future of functional food.

The supply of nutrients such as vitamins minerals and trace elements is directly related to the appearance of numerous metabolic diseases. In order to identify nutrient deficiencies in good time and counteract the development of diseases the Institute of Applied Biochemistry IABC in Kreuzlingen has developed investigation methods that enable statements to be made on an individuals personal nutrient requirements.

Researchers at the Centre for Nutritional Medicine (ZEM), a joint institution of the Universities of Hohenheim and Tübingen, are investigating whether and to what extent certain food components can support the treatment of cancer and are hoping to derive scientifically founded dietary recommendations from their findings.

Sausage casings made of collagen can be used as an alternative to natural intestine casings as they give a similar sensation when biting into knockwursts or boiled sausages. Scientists involved in the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research funded project "Biotechnological process development for novel membranes based on collagen", are seeking to optimise the process of collagen processing using environmentally friendly biotechnology methods.

The German and Baden-Württemberg governments have declared their intention to work closer together in the field of nutritional research. The German Federal Minister of Nutrition, Ilse Aigner, and the Baden-Württemberg Science Minister, Professor Dr. Peter Frankenberg, have signed a framework agreement signalling their intention to support the collaboration between the Karlsruhe-based Max Rubner Institute (MRI) and universities and research institutions in Baden-Württemberg.

Citrus fruit and carrots protect against Alzheimer’s disease, a press release recently published by the University of Ulm suggests. A closer look at the language used though reveals the statement to be rather hypothetical. However, accuracy does not seem to be a concern of articles aimed at the general public, and this is exactly how expectations and hype are created. The neurologist Christine von Arnim now faces the - not inconsiderable - task of having to scale down expectations and put the Ulm researchers’ work into its correct context.

For more than 25 years Prof. Dr. Andrea Hartwig has been investigating the quantities of metal compounds that have a beneficial or toxic effect on human health. As a basic researcher the new chair of the Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT has managed to clarify many mechanisms of action of toxic metals including on the molecular level.

Many findings indicate that the consumption of cruciferous vegetable plants rich in mustard oil glycosides has a cancer-inhibiting effect. Researchers from Heidelberg have now shown that sulforaphane, a broccoli mustard oil, blocks a signalling pathway that makes tumour stem cells resistant to cytotoxic drugs. The administration of sulforaphane can prevent therapy resistance and metastasis of pancreatic cancer in animal models.

Control is good dual control even better. Blind trust in the food industry is not always the best idea. Dioxin EHEC and the horsemeat scandal show how vulnerable safety of the food chain is in a globalised world and also highlights the continuously changing challenges facing food inspectors. Food inspection aims to protect consumers from potential harm caused by food and against fraud committed by the industry.

In 2010 there will be 10 million diabetes patients in Germany and nearly 33 millions in Europe. The diabetes avalanche is rolling and what is Germany doing? So far so little say experts. There is a lot happening at the same time in different places little is evaluated and a lot is lost in the maelstrom of individual interests. The figures are clear The metabolic disease known as diabetes has reached the proportions of a worldwide epidemic. It not only endangers human health but also social structures and national economies. According to the International Diabetes Foundation IDF 3.8 million people died in 2007 as a result of diabetes.

Dietary supplements support a well-balanced diet and lifestyle. Anoxymer GmbH develops health-enhancing plant extracts that contribute to healthy nutrition. With its expertise in using raw materials from South America for the development of botanical extracts and the distribution of its products in Asia, the company is a competent partner in the “Bioactive Plant Foods” network.